Lewis Hamilton wins Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix

The Associated PressFirst placed British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes, centre, and third placed French Formula One driver Romain Grosjean of Lotus spray champagne as sporting director of McLaren Mercedes Sam Michael wipes his face on the winners' podium after the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring race track near Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, July 29, 2012.

Hamilton completed Sunday's race in 1 hour, 41 minutes, 5.503 seconds — more than a second ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. Romain Grosjean, also of Lotus, was third. It was McLaren's sixth win here in eight years.

"Really fantastic," Hamilton said over the team radio after the race. "Let's try to keep this up."

It was Hamilton's third win in Hungary and second of the season. His victory from pole position again demonstrated the advantage of starting first on a track with few opportunities for passing.

The British driver was in the lead for all but eight laps of the race — briefly falling back after his two tire changes — despite strong challenges from the Lotus pair.

Grosjean was often less than 2 seconds behind Hamilton until he was passed by Raikkonen as the Finn came out of the pit lane after his final tire change on lap 45.

Raikkonen kept the pressure on Hamilton until the end.

"If we were on another track where overtaking was much easier, I think perhaps the result would have been different," Hamilton said about the two Lotus drivers.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth, leads the championship with 164 points, followed by the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber with 124 and Sebastian Vettel with 122. Hamilton is fourth with 117, ahead of Raikkonen with 116.

The race was cut to 69 laps from 70, after an extra positioning lap was added when Michael Schumacher's Mercedes stalled on the starting grid.

It was a dreadful race for the seven-time world champion, who was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit lane and retired after 58 laps while in 18th place.

The Hungaroring race was the last event before a monthlong summer break, resuming with the Belgian Grand Prix on Sept. 2.